Braiding-machine carrier.



E. H. SMALL.

BRAIDING MACHINE CARRIER.

v APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, I914- mmsw Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

R o T N E V m WITNESSES ATTORNEY tor s'ra rannar amen.

ELISHA I-I. SMALL, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR vT0 SMALL BROTHERS, A FIRM COMPOSEID OF ELISI-IA I-I. SMALL AND REUBEN C. SMALL, OF FALL RIVER,

MASSACHUSETTS.

BRAIDIIIGr-MACHINE CARRIER.

neoasae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 24L, 1916.

Application filed November 2, 1914. Serial No. 869,903.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELISI-IA H. SMALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Braiding-\lfaehine Carrier, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to braiding machine carriers, and its object is to provide a simple and efiicient means for preventing over rotation of the yarn spool of such carrier under abnormal conditions.

While the present invention is not of necessity limited to any special type of braiding machine carrier, it is designed more particularly for application to braiding machines wherein the carrier is supplied with an upright spindle for receiving a yarn spool or bobbin carrying the yarn used in the machine. In certain types of machines of this character the spool or bobbin has at what constitutes its upper end in use a circular series of ratchet teeth designed to be engaged by a gravity pawl projecting from and usually in one piece with a slidable weight mounted on the standard to one side of the spool. This pawl is under the control of a tension weight carried by the strand of yarn and movable thereby to rise sufiiciently to lift the pawl out of engagement with a ratchet tooth and thereby permit a rotation of the yarn spool under the pull of the yarn. Under normal conditions the tension weight maintains a practically constant tension on the yarn so that there can be no slack therein, and as the yarn is used up the weight is raised and engages I and lifts the pawl slide until the pawl is out of engagement with the tooth, whereupon the yarn spool is free to turn and pay off more yarn, thus relieving the superior tension, whereupon the tension weight drops and the pawl follows into the path of the next succeeding tooth of the ratchet. While normal conditions prevail the feed of the yarn continues regularly. Should, however, there be a superior pull upon the yarn causing the tensionweight to rise so-rapidly as to impart such a blow to the pawl supporting member as to impel it upwardly for a greater distance than usual, the pawl is sometimes lifted entirely off from the standard along which it travels, and often the pawl is lifted high enough to permit the sudden pull upon the spool to rotate the latter a greater distance than the circumferential distance between two adjacent ratchet teeth, whereby a greater amount of yarn than usual is drawn from the spool, so that the yarn is no longer under the control of the tension weight and either a defeet is produced in the braid or the machine is brought to a stop by bringing into action the stop motion with which themachine may be equipped.

With the present invention, which comprises the formation of the ratchet end of the spool with and axially and radially extended member overriding and spaced from the ratchet teethin the path of rising movement of the pawl, the sudden pull of the yarn which sometimes occurs while causing the upward impulse of the pawl as before, is not productive of so great a rise of the pawl as will permit a turning of the spool until two or more teeth'have escaped from the control of the pawl. Instead of this the pawl is permitted. to rise sufficiently for a ratchet tooth to pass under it, but further rise is limited by the overhang in its path formed on the end of the spool, and consequently the impact of the rapidly rising pawl with its overhang or overriding limiting member produces a quick rebound driving the pawl downwardly into the path of the neXt succeeding tooth, so that whether the pull on the yarn be normal or be excessive the pawl cannot rise beyond a point predetermind by the overriding limiting member on the spool, and, therefore, the

pawl always drops back in time to intercept the next tooth in order.

The drawings, description and claims herein are limited to p a stop member carried directly by a yarn spool or bobbin at the ratchet end thereof in overriding relation to the ratchet teeth and axially spaced therefrom, so as to be in the path of the rising pawl.

The broader aspects of the invention are set forth and claimed in another application Serial No. 869,902filed by me on even date herewith for a carrier for braiding machines, for which reason no broad claims to the invention are made herein.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following cletailed description, taken in connection with the accompanyin drawings formin a part of this specification, with the furt rerun are derstanding that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a braiding machine carrier separate from the machine proper, and illustrating the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing some parts in vertical section and the tension weight and'controlling pawl lifted. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the spool or bobbin constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a carrier 1 provided with a spindle 2 upon which is removably mounted a bobbin or spool 3 designed to carry yarn 4. To one side of the spindle 2 a standard 5 is erected on the carrier, and this standard has mounted thereon a weight 6 slidable lengthwise of the standard and ordinarily termed the bottom or tension weight, and there is also on the standard another weight 7 slidable lengthwise thereofand constituting the top weight. Projecting'laterally from the upper end of the top weight 7 is a pawl 8, usually in one piece with the weight 7. At the upper end ofthe standard 5 is a head 9 formed with a passage 10 constituting a thread or yarn -guide, while through the standard 5 is another passage 11. Coming from the supply of yarn 4 upon the spool 3 is a strand 12 of yarn threaded through the passage 11, thence into a notch 13 in the lower end of thetension weight 6, thence alongside of said weight to the guide passage 10, and thence to the usual gatherer of the braiding machine, which, however, is not shown in the drawings.

. The spool 3 is provided with a bottom head 14c and a top head 15, and on the upper surface of the latter there is f'cafiied a circular series of ratchet teeth 16. ising from the central portion of the head 15 within the series of teeth 16 is an axial stem l7 terminating at the upper end in'a radially expanded flange 18.

The pawl 8 is customarily formed with a tooth engaging nose 8 having its upper edge rounded, and when such a pawl is employed,

the stem 17 merges into the flange 18 by way of a concave circumferential wall 19 corresponding generally to the curvature of the nose 8 The flange 18 is spaced from the head 15 by such a distance that when the pawl 8 has risen 'sufliciently to clear the teeth 16 further rising movement is arrested by the engagement of the nose end of the pawl with the under side of the flange 18, wlfereupon the pawl then tends to fall by gravity and if the rising impulse be considerable, such fall is accelerated bythe effect of the impact of the pawl with the under face of the flange 18.

In the absence of the limiting member 18 for the pawl 8, an excessive pull upon the yarn strand 12 would cause the rise of the pawl 8 to such a distance above the teeth 16 that such pull imparted to the spool 3 might cause the latter to rotate so rapidly that two or more teeth would ride under the pawl before it could drop into the path of the teeth. This would mean a sudden strain of the tension of the yarn because of the excess of yarn withdrawn from the spool and a bad spot thereby be produced in the forming braid or some other undesirable condition might be caused thereby. With the present invention there is always in the path of the pawl a limiting member permitting the pawl to rise sufliciently to clear the ratchet teeth, but not sufiicient to permit a possible rotation of the spool to carry two or more teeth under the pawl before the latter can drop into place again.

By making the limiting member either integral with or a fixed portion of the spool no attention whatever on the part of the operator is demanded, for when an empty spool is removed and a full spool placed upon the carrier the limiting member is automatically positioned.

W'ith existing spools having the head 15 provided with ratchet teeth 16 the limiting member 17, 18, may be separately produced,

and fixedly applied to the corresponding end of the spool with the bore through the spool designed to house the spindle continued through the limiting member. New spools, however, may be made in one piece. When, therefore, the spool with the limiting memher. is stated to be a one piece structure it will be understood this means that either the spool and limiting member are integral, or that they are separately made and permanently fastened together, so that to all intents and purposes the separately formed parts of the spool are in one piece.

Since the limiting member comprising the radially extended flange 18 with its supporting stem 17 in line with the yarn carrying stem of the spool participates in all movements of the spool, as it is effectively in one piece therewith, is made circular, as the spool rotates there is always a part of the flange 18 in the path of the pawl, the latter being nonrotatable but movable in a plane radial to the axis of rotation of the installed spool.

What is claimed is 1. In a braiding machine carrier having pawl and ratchet controlling means for the yarn spool, a one-piece yarn spool having a circular series of ratchet teeth at what constitutes the upper end in use, and an axial extension rising from the toothed head and radially expanded in spaced relation to the ratchet teeth to override the latter and constitute limiting means for restricting the travel of the pawl away from the ratchet teeth.

2. In a braiding machine carrier provided with pawl and ratchet control for the yarn spool or bobbin, a yarn spool or bobbin having one head provided with a circular series of axially extended ratchet teeth, and an axially extended stem interior to the ratchet teeth and terminating in a radially extended circumferential flange in spaced relation to the ratchet teeth, the radial extension of the flange being sufficient to intercept the pawl on movement out of engagement with the ratchet teeth.

3. In a braiding machine carrier, a yarn spool or bobbin having one head formed on the face remote from the yarn carrying part of the spool with a circular series of ratchet teeth and there also provided with an axially extended stem expanded radially into a circular flange in spaced overriding relation to the series of ratchet teeth.

4. In a braiding machine carrier having pawl and ratchet controlling means for the yarn spool, a one-piece yarn spool provided with a circular series of ratchet teeth at its upper end and with an extension constituting a stop for the pawl and arranged in spaced relation to the ratchet teeth.

5. In a braiding machine carrier having pawl and ratchet controlling means for the yarn spool, a one-piece yarn spool having a circular series of ratchet teeth and a limiting stop for the pawl, all formed integral with and located at the top of the spool.

6. In a braiding machine carrier having pawl and ratchet controlling means for the yarn spool, a one-piece yarn spool provided with a circular series of ratchet teeth and with an extension spaced above the ratchet teeth and constituting a stop for the pawl, said extension being disk-shaped.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELISHA H. SMALL.

Witnesses:

FRANK A. PEAsE, HUBERT LEJAVE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of lPatenta Washington, D. U. 

